


Selya and Nico

by ziraulo



Series: Scratch Paper [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Post-The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-09 01:34:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20845367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ziraulo/pseuds/ziraulo
Summary: Selya's first trip alone after moving to the US involvedmonster dogs, and that wasn't the weirdest part of it.





	Selya and Nico

**Author's Note:**

> Once upon a time, I got hooked on PJO. Of course, college came and went, and I drifted away from the fandom for a long while. News about the Trials of Apollo are drawing me back, and if I can manage to get through Heroes of Olympus, I might just come back!
> 
> If not, well, fanfic is a bit more flexible with timelines, and I might be able to work with the solely the PJO timeline.
> 
> Anyway, here's a piece I found from the scratch paper pile about an OC! I've always wanted to make an OC for PJO, and while Selya is much changed since I first made her, I still like this piece a lot.

If there was one thing she loathed, it was people who used dogs to bully others. Creatures loyal as dogs didn’t deserve a poor reputation, just because humans couldn’t be bothered to do the dirty work! Selya should know, for she could talk to them. 

It was God’s way of making it up to her, her father once joked. If she couldn’t solve her problems with humans without violence, then she should be able to do so with animals.

So when she heard growling at a dark alley, she stopped in her tracks without hesitation and whistled sharply. If she was intimidated by the size of the dogs’ shadows, she didn’t let it show. Instead, she stood her ground.

“Hey!” She shouted, when there was no response to her whistle. “What are you doing?”

To her surprise, the dogs did not grovel to her, not unlike how their other furry brethren did. “Stay out of this, child,” growled one. “This is our quarry.”

The dog’s head turned to her, and Selya was face to face with what looked to be a red-eyed Mastiff the size of a Sedan. There were rows of sharp teeth behind that snarling lip, and she could easily see rows more behind it if the dog ever wanted to open his mouth. She gulped, and managed to avert her gaze from his eyes, and instead tried to see through the gap the change in his position made.

To her horror, it was a boy. He was a scrawny dark shape huddled into a corner of a dead end, just small enough for him to fit and for the dogs’ heads not to fit. He didn’t look too good, and her heart bled for him. He looked even more scared than she was, and she was a foreigner out in the streets of Manhattan for the first time. But she wasn’t about to let that stop her from fighting back.

The dog seemed to decide that Selya in all her puny, five-foot flat glory wasn’t a threat, and started to turn away. “Hey!” She stomped her feet to get his attention. “Don’t ignore me!”

He did just that, and she got desperate. Just what would catch a dog’s attention?

And in that moment, Selya Salvador got the most brilliant idea.

“Hey puppies!” She drew the word “puppies” out and pitched her voice higher as she went. “I have a treat!”

The sound of a box shaking got the attention of the other dog, who was slightly smaller and looked more like a Rottweiler who lived on too much treats. “Did she say treat?” He said, sitting on his rump almost immediately after finishing the sentence. His tail began to thump against the pavement. “Oh, I hope it’s not a red rubber ball! Cerberus always steals those…”

She shook her Happy Meal at them. “I have chicken nuggets for good boys!”

The tail wagging went ever faster. “Oh boy, oh boy! She has nuggets!” He barked, pawing at the floor. 

The Mastiff scoffed. “Bah! Mere nuggets will not sate us. We hunger for flesh, child--”

She tuned out the rest of his monologue, and began to focus. What she had in mind was a trick used for purse snatchers, as taught by her father: show them the goods, throw them away, and run in the other direction. Given the size of the dogs, she had to throw her nuggets very far, if she wanted the distraction to even work.

A small amount of green mist began to gather around the Happy Meal box, until there was a constantly swirling green haze around it. She raised the bag up her head, held on in a tight grip, and threw it with all the force she had. “Come and get it!”

The Rottweiler chased after it with a happy bark of “Nuggets!”, leaving a trail of dust and dog drool in his wake.

His companion was fuming, literal steam pouring out of his nostrils and his large floppy ears. “That absolute little...pup!” He roared.

The roar made her flinch. For a moment, Selya thought he was going to take it out on her. Then, with a great leap, the Mastiff took off and chased after his wayward companion.

The moment she realizes that no part of her body was in a dog’s mouth, she went into the dark alley. “Hey, are you okay? You can come out now.” She called out. 

There was a whimper, before someone asked, “A-are you sure?”

The actual answer was no. She’s only used the green mist to trick humans before, and some _engkanto_ when she was still back in the Philippines. But she can’t let panic creep into her voice, because that would just scare the boy more. 

So she lies. “Yeah, pretty sure they’re gone. No big dogs here, no siree.” She laughed nervously. 

The mass of shadows gathered at the corner of the alley began to recede, and soon, the boy came out squinting at the afternoon sun. He was olive-skinned, lighter than her own brown skin, but had black hair like she did. His hair looked like it hasn’t seen a comb in days, and he didn’t look older than Selya’s thirteen years.

“They were really mean, to set the dogs on you.” Selya offered him tissues from her pocket. “That happen to you a lot? The monster dogs?”

He startled. “You can see them?”

“Always could.” She shrugged, trying to look casual. It wasn’t such a big thing back home, to be able to see the supernatural, especially when the entire town knew her dad as the town’s _albularyo_. But this was New York, and the supernatural was only cool during Halloween. Mentioning her ability to see the supernatural was like putting a light-up neon sign saying “Kick Me” on her back.

The boy made a soft noise of resignation. “Are you gonna take me back to camp?”

Her brows knit together in confusion. “What camp? I barely know the entire block.” She said. “Oh, but I know how to get to McDonalds from here! You should probably get something to eat.”

The boy kept staring at her. Instead of answering her question, he said, “You should keep that.”

Well, that was certainly off-topic. “Keep what?”

“The staff.” He said, as if Selya went around fighting monsters with wands. She’s long accepted that would only happen in fiction, thank you very much. But she realizes he’s right before she could make her sentiments known.

She knew this staff. It was long and pink, with one end tapering off into the shape of a bird’s head. The beak was ruby red, and the wings on either side of the head were white and topped with rubies. Putting it all together was the golden helm-like shape that separated the beak and the wings. It weighed almost nothing in her hands, which was why she hadn’t noticed it until now. She used to see this all the time, from her favorite anime series. 

She also saw it today, on a McDonald’s Happy Meal display, when the cashier took it out to place inside her Happy Meal box. 

Suddenly, the wand was gone from her hands. It disappeared in a flash of light, and when the light faded, it was around her neck, taking the form of a pendant. 

“Whoa,” Selya breathed. Was this what it felt to handle magical items? She’s pretty sure none of her dad’s _buntot pagi_ did any of this.

The boy’s eyes were wide with wonder. “Did you get that from the McDonalds?” He asked.

“Yeah,” Selya replied, not quite believing that she got an actual magical staff from McDonalds. “So, are we going?”

“Sure.”

Selya bought the boy his first Happy Meal that day, and they toasted cups of orange juice to the fact that they both lived through giant monster dogs. She hoped she managed to convince him to go home, or at least go back to that camp of his, but he seemed dead set on running away. They went their separate ways right after, and she was already at home by the time she realized she never asked for his name. 

Oh well, she thought. He seemed like he could take care of himself. Besides, with how big America was, there was no way they could meet again in a summer camp.

**Author's Note:**

> _engkanto_ \- A spirit in Filipino Mythology, often compared to the western Fair Folk. They're often thought to be malevolent in regional legends.
> 
> _albularyo_ \- A Filipino term for a witch doctor, folk healer or medicine men, commonly found in rural communities. Most of their healing is via herbal treatments or massages. Believe it or not, they're still very much a thing in modern Filpino society because of a combination of superstition and really shitty health care.
> 
> _buntot pagi_ \- lit. stingray tail; a whip-like weapon used for fighting off the supernatural in the Philippine folklore, often in combination with a knife. 
> 
> Come yell at me on Twitter [@AngInangReyna](https://twitter.com/AngInangReyna) or Tumblr at ziraulo!


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